Almost 40% of Israeli households have fast Internet links
by Hadar Horesh
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/417693.html
April 21, 2004
There are now 765,000 subscribers with broadband Internet
access in Israel, according to figures published yesterday
by Bezeq and the cable companies. This means that about
40 percent of Israeli households have fast Internet links.
Bezeq reported it has over 500,000 customers for its fast
Internet connection, while the cable companies account for
about one-third of the total market. Bezeq's figures show
that 70 percent of its subscribers are connected via
broadband links. This percentage is last year's figure.
The cable firms' market share has remained relatively
constant despite increased marketing efforts, including
package deals for Internet and television services. However,
the chairman of Golden Channels, Ram Belinkov, said that
since the beginning of 2004, the cable firms' fast Internet
service (Hotnet) has signed up more than half of the new
broadband subscribers in Israel.
The transition to broadband Internet reduces the number of
telephone lines Bezeq provides because, unlike traditional
dial-up connections, a customer's regular phone line remains
free while he or she surfs the Web. Broadband subscribers
also do not pay per minute of Internet connection. But this
transition does not appear to have hurt Bezeq's bottom line:
the company expects to record revenues of about NIS 600 million
from its fast Internet service this year. In fact, Bezeq CEO
Amnon Dick has identified fast Internet as one of the main
growth engines in the telecommunications market.
The cable companies reckon to take in about NIS 320 million
in revenues from Internet access and infrastructure services
this year, while Israel's other ISPs (Internet Service Providers)
expect to rake in about NIS 400 million.